Had the same problem with adding beads to my floor pan. Luckily, mine wasn't quite as wavy and I could bend some of the oil-canning out of it over my knee.
The best solution seems to be to use an English Wheel before rolling beads.. I would almost consider cutting a sliver out of the middle to let it lay flat, and welding back together. Not really good suggestions, but the metal has been stretched so I doubt you'll get it to lay flat with lots of clamps/tack welding as you go.
https://garage.eastwood.com/eastwood-chatter/bead-roller-trick/
In reply to classicJackets (FS) :
You called it with splitting it down the middle. Seemed to do the trick
And the corner panels using cereal box CAD of course
Yeah I'm pretty feeling good about this now. Still not sure about the bodywork rabbit hole, or just grind and primer the welds and rock it "in-progress". All this sheetmetal work is making this progress drag out...really want to drive this year.
You progress is looking Great!
Not that it matters, but I vote leave it a bit rough or "raw" to give it a bit of a survivor look. Not rat rod, because there's nothing ratty about your work here, but super shiny and over polished just gives me too much of a "billet hot rod" vibe from the 90's
NOHOME
MegaDork
7/14/20 9:19 p.m.
One trick for flat beaded panels is to half depth roll the bead in the wrong direction, This will pre stretch the metal, flip over and roll the bead in the correct direction to the proper depth.
Nice work. That looks great.
Looking awesome! I hope to see this one day!
Great work so far. Welding exterior panels definitely becomes an exercise in self-control. Given the way things are going (publically speaking), you've got time to take . . .
awww. I caught up.... THIS IS SO FREAKING AWESOME!
Indy "Nub" Guy said:
You progress is looking Great!
Not that it matters, but I vote leave it a bit rough or "raw" to give it a bit of a survivor look. Not rat rod, because there's nothing ratty about your work here, but super shiny and over polished just gives me too much of a "billet hot rod" vibe from the 90's
Clean it up and shoot it in hot rod black, red steelies with baby moons and drive the wheels off of it.
Body sheetmetal is done, but it will definitely need some filler. I added rain gutters above the windows, bent using a custom made tool. Doors are theoretically removable, so I can tackle those at a much later time along with body filling. I can prep and prime the interior now. Then I can put it back on the body and start adding parts to it.
Here's some closeups of my shoddy, wavy handiwork. It's all filler and sanding from here. I decided not to touch bondo until after it's driving, so I'll just spray the welds while priming the interior. Still a rat rod. For now.
God bless flap disks
I saw a Model A pickup in person today in Asheville NC and thought of this. It looked really nice. Keep up the good work.
As I told Gumby when he was here, why have heaps of nearly useless hf screwdrivers around other than to modify them into something else?
Also love your "bodywork hammer"
Tonight I laid the primer down. I'm spraying Eastwood's DTM epoxy primer. Not shown here is the several many hours of cup-brushing, acetone-wiping, and sweating my balls off in Georgia heat. Paint is 90% prep, and that E36 M3 is Hard Work. But so gratifying, even just primer.
I skipped the doors because they need the skins split from the inner panels to fix the window tracks, and I ain't going down that rabbit hole just yet. They can be done off the cab, whenever I do the truck bed sides and tailgate. I can drive with rusty doors and no side glass. Though the primer is showing metal flaws you can't even fathom, I'm pretty happy with how flat the panels and joints are. My only frame of reference is Datsaniti, and that was my first real bodywork. This looks more "do-able" compared to that pile.
I am really enjoying this build. Yes, those doors are going to be quite the rabbit hole. But you got this man!
That looks absolutely incredible.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:
That looks absolutely incredible.
It really does. Awesome work.
I i actually think that silver may be the best color! Or clearcoat the gray primer!
Age and imperfection should equate to reality. There is no problem evident.
Got some seams sealed up.
And much bigger news - I picked a color. This is PPG #42150. 1958 one-year only color for Chrysler "Aztec Turquoise", and 1958 Chevy "Glen Green". I took some advice from this forum and visited my local paint supplier, which it turns out is right down the street from me. Not only did they mix me up a half-pint sample, they also answered all my dumb amateur questions. I learned in 15 minutes what I would have spent 2 hours searching the internet for, and still wouldn't be sure then. Off the top of his head, paint guy knew if this paint would work for my specific primer and gun setup. I wasn't sure of the Aztec Turquoise, so I showed paint guy a picture from the 'net of what I liked, and he picked another blue color for me. We also talked about single-stage vs clear coat. Ultimately we decided a single-stage acrylic enamel is most appropriate for this build. It's a simple, durable paint without much depth, but it's still shiny enough with a hardener and works great with solid, non-metallic colors like the one I wanted. I went home, mixed up the sample, and hardly got the Turquoise out of the gun before I knew it immediately - this is it. This is the color. After such good customer service, I'll definitely be back, and for much more than a sample next time.
Here it is on the window garnish moldings.
Seeing this color on some metal reinvigorated my motivation. Forget what I said about driving it in primer and rusty doors. I want this color. I want it on everything. Yup, we're going down the bodywork and door window-track rabbit hole. I don't even care. This is the remaining pile of parts that require sheetmetal work. Seeing it all together doesn't look so daunting now, plus none of these need to be as "perfect" as the cab.
